By Jennifer Whitlock
Field Editor

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released advanced notice of minimum provisions to be included in the agency’s new Dairy Donation Program (DDP).

The $400 million program was established by Congress in December 2020 to facilitate timely donations of dairy products to non-profit food aid organizations and minimize dairy food waste.

“Because the statute allows retroactive reimbursements of donations made before donation and distribution plans are approved, USDA is providing advanced notice of minimum provisions to encourage the dairy industry to process and donate surplus milk supplies as it moves through the spring surplus milk production season,” a release from USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) said.

Although final DDP regulations have not yet been published, the minimum key provisions released by USDA include:

  • a donation and distribution plan submitted to and approved by USDA;
  • the reimbursement will be at least equivalent to the minimum classified value of milk used to make the donated product on the date of manufacturing;
  • records related to donating and receiving products must be maintained and available for review or audit; and
  • eligibility is open to dairy farmer cooperatives and processors who “account to” a federal milk marketing order (FMMO) and donate dairy products to any private or public nonprofit food distribution entity.

FMMOs establish certain criteria under which dairy processors purchase milk from dairy farmers supplying a marketing area, which is a geographic area where processors compete for packaged fluid milk sales. Federal orders help maintain stable marketing relationships for processors and dairy farmers, according to AMS.

DDP builds on the success of a smaller initiative, the $29 million Milk Donation Reimbursement Program, which was authorized by the 2018 Farm Bill. The new program’s larger scope of reimbursement for all dairy products, not just fluid milk, was welcome news for dairy farmers.

“NMPF worked closely with Congress to enact the Dairy Donation Program (DDP) in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021. This important program will help dairy farmers and the cooperatives they own to continue to do what they do best–feed people,” Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), said. “Dairy stakeholders are eager to expand their partnership efforts with food banks and other distributors to provide a variety of nutritious dairy products to food insecure households who have faced uniquely difficult challenges throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, as hunger has risen significantly during the last year.”